Category “Psychology”

This documentary examines the remarkable case of Issei Sagawa –the self-confessed ‘godfather of cannibals’ who walked free from prison and became a minor celebrity, despite having killed and eaten a young woman in the early...

Inspired by a New Yorker story, "Jumpers," written by Tad Friend, director Eric Steel decided to train cameras on the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of 2004 to capture the people who attempted to leap off the famed structure, the site of more suicides than anywhere else in the world. He also tracked down and interviewed the friends, family members, and eyewitnesses to further recreate the events leading up to the incident and to try to explain what led these people to want to kill themselves, especially at this specific site. The documentary's primary subjects all struggled with mental...

In a compelling and at times disturbing series, Dr Michael Mosley explores the brutal history of experimental psychology.
Mosley embarks on three journeys to understand science’s last great frontier – the human mind – as he traces the history of the attempts to understand and manipulate the brain. Experiments on the human mind have led to profound insights into how our brain works – but have also involved great cruelty and posed some terrible ethical dilemmas.
Mind Control. To begin, Michael traces the sinister ways this science has been used to try to control our minds. He...

Why do we think and feel as we do? For years man has sought to understand the workings of the mind. Now, with advances in modern-day technology and developments in neuroscience, a whole new world of brain research is opening up.
Understanding our minds is becoming a reality. Guided by top neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, Brain Story attempts to answer the question “What is my mind and who am I?” We talk to philosophers, clinicians, neurosurgeons and their patients to discover quite what a finely balanced and complex machine the brain is.
All in the Mind. Susan Greenfield explains...

Daniel Tammet is a twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone. He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’.
As a baby, Daniel cried constantly and banged his head against the wall. His parents...

Suffer The Little Children is a documentary by NBC which aired in 1968, this ground-breaking film set about exposing the Pennhurst State School which has since been described as the shame of a nation. Having opened it's doors in November of 1908, this state-funded school / hospital became extremely overcrowded within a short period of time, taking in those who were suffering from mental illness or criminals, orphans, etc. i.e. people who could not be housed elsewhere. The school quickly became the center of a human rights movement which eventually revolutionized America's approach to...

The stress response: in the beginning it saved our lives, making us run from predators and enabling us to take down prey. Today, human beings are turning on the same life-saving physical reaction to cope with 30-year mortgages, $4 a gallon gasoline, final exams, difficult bosses and even traffic jams — we can’t seem to turn it off. So, we’re constantly marinating in corrosive hormones triggered by the stress response.
Now, scientists are showing just how measurable — and dangerous — prolonged exposure to stress can be. Stanford University neurobiologist, MacArthur “genius”...

Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population.
Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar.
Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories.
Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression...

Would you cross the Atlantic on a sailboat?
“Shouting: Tierra” is a short documentary that investigates the philosophical motivations that push people to sail the seas and to challenge the unknown. It is a film about the Atlantic crossing, but it is also a film about Nature and human nature. It is a film about the ocean, rather then a film about a boat or a...